If bella had a sister
by rosette101
Summary: When Bella comes to Forks it isn't just because she wants to give Renee and Phil space but also because she as a sister in forks that she hasn't seen since she was seven. Her sister has a twisted leg and needs a crutch to walk. They get really close but when danger comes to Bella it comes For Kennedy too. Can Bella keep them BOTH out of trouble? First story! :D
1. Chapter 1

**Ok this is my first my first story! So have mercy! I have had this story stuck in my head for a while and the inspiration came from**** trulyscrupsious****! I suggest you look into that story! I love it! Anyway! Here I go…**

"Really!" I said my eyes were big staring at Charlie! Bella is really coming to forks! Omigosh! I started to squeal and jump up and down (as best I could on my crutch!) "Bella is coming here! No way! i need to get my room ready I need to tell everybody! WAIT!" I stopped squealing for a seconded. "You haven't told anybody yet, right?" a hopeful look on my face.

Charlie chuckled through is mustache. "Of course not I know that you like to be the one to tell everyone." He laughed again, as my eyes widened.

"Oh, Charlie you're the best! I'm so happy I could bake a cake!" I started to squeal again, rambling. "You know what! I will make a cake! Just for you! It's going to be six layers high with strawberry icing and 100 candles with…"

Charlie cut me off by his deep throated laughter. "Let's keep it one layer with vanilla icing and limit of one candle for each of us!" he chuckled.

"That's ok with me as long as I get to make you cake! Thank you so much Charlie!" I I stood up on my tiptoes trying to hug him but he was too tall! He laughed again and had to bend down so I could give him a hug! I started wobbling around the kitchen finding all the ingredients. Even though I was on my crutch, I was used to it.

Charlie just chuckled again, and went to go watch the game. Stirring the batter I could not keep my mind off of Bella. I had never met her before, which is really sad considering she's my blood related sister! I get the occasional Christmas card with pictures of both Renee and Bella but. You know, it's just not the same! I bet she's really pretty! I poured the batter in the pan, placed the pan in the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes.

I went to spend time with Charlie. I get to spend time with him every day. But I can't forget my single dad! I sat down next to him on the couch and let my crutch lean on the side of the couch. And snuggle up to him. Unconsciously he wrapped his arm around me, in a fatherly way. I smiled, I love Charlie! Why could any women not want to be with him! Let alone get in a divorce!

I couldn't help it! But, my mind drifted back to Bella where it had left off. I bet she's really pretty! Big brown eyes with a cute smile! I bet she is so nice to! Just then the timer went off. "That's my cue." I said, and grabbed my crutches and wobbled back into the kitchen.

I grabbed the cake out of the oven and spread the vanilla icing over it. I cut it up and dished out two pieces out for Charlie and me humming the whole time. When the two pieces of cake were put on a plate, I took the pan with the rest of the cake on it, and wobbled to the door. I looked behind me to make sure Charlie was still watching the game. He doesn't like it when I feed the neighbors

Opening the door as quietly as I could I I went out side, silently closing the door behind me. Once I was sure the door was securely shut behind me. I yelled out on top of my lungs, "HEY GUYS! I MADE CAKE!" Almost automatically, lights quickly turned on and little kids were running through the rain with their own plates, to be the first with cake.

I just sat under the porch safe from the rain and watched as almost every kid on the block came running. Lindsey got here first, followed by Mack then Pete and then the rest of the kids came in a blob, all just sticking their plates at me telling me to give them a big piece. I sat dishing up cake joking with them and laughing with them.

A minute later all the kids had their slices of cake, all sitting under my porch, telling me about their weeks. There were 14 kids, the oldest 10 and the youngest three. I love them all. Once they were done with their cake they all ran back to their house to surprise there mom who had just finished dishes, with another dirty plate. Sigh, I love this neighborhood.

I walked as quietly back into the house, and sat down at the table like I had been there the whole time. "Charlie I'm done with the cake!" I heard him turn off the TV and come into the kitchen. He eyed the empty pan that I used to make the cake, and then look how many pieces I had saved.

"Kennedy." He said in a scolding tone. "Did you feed the neighbor kids again?"

"No." I said to quickly.

"Kennedy…" he trailed off, looking at his slice of cake again then looking at me. I did my best puppy dog face. He sighed. "It's a good thing that this cake looks so good, or you would be in big trouble!" I smiled a triumphant smile.

We ate and I talked the whole time about Bella. "She is going to be so nice! We are going to do each other nails and we can have pillow fight in the room that we're going to share…" then the realization struck me. "The room!" I gasped! I turned towards Charlie. "When is she coming?"

"Tomorrow… why?" he asked

"Ah the room! Everything needs to be perfect!" I quickly shoveled the rest of my cake into my mouth. "Ah ill e ack oon, I oughta lean my oom!" I said with my mouth still full of cake. Charlie laughed while I scrambled up stairs, witch I'm pretty good at considering I have had all my life to practice going up stairs with my crutch.

I ran to my room as fast as I could! Once I got there I just stood in my door way looking at the familiar mess. Where to start…. Hmmm. I decided to start with my stuffed animal collection. Shoving stuffed animals into the toy box. Well that cleaned up most of the mess.

I looked around the room, the light blue paint with the white carpet I had colorful Christmas lights lining the room, there were picture I drew of clothes designs. And my pink sewing machine in the corner with a dress I was making for Mrs. Smiths new baby in it. I had a bunk bed in the middle of the room the kind that was just basically two twin beds stacked on top of each other. And you could take them down any time you wanted. The bunk beds had blue and white patched bedding, and lots of blue and white pillows sprinkled the beds, and the bottom bunk had some of my favorite stuffed animals were on that one two. There was an old computer that I never used, and there was a blue circle rug in middle of the room. On the wall hung the letters of my name above an old rocking chair that I used to but my biggest stuffed animal, a teddy bear that was two and a half feet tall. His name was Mr. Epic. Last there was a window with white satin curtains.

I would have to have Charlie unbunk the beds later. I went to the closet and moved all my stuff to one side so that Bella could have the other side. Then I desided I would have the side closest to the window because my sewing machine was already over there, I scooted my toy box over there the best I could. Who knew stuffed animals could be so heavy? I was still struggling with it when I heard Charlie laugh.

I looked up to see him in the door way, "need help?"

I smiled.

He took that as a yes and came in, easily scooting the box into the corner. Then he went to the bunk bed, sizing it up and getting a good grip on it. then used his big bad cop musels and picked up the top twin bed off of the bottom one and set it on the ground a few feet away from the other twin bed.

"Where do you want them?" he asked.

"I want one over here by the window and one over here by the door. But not touching the wall." I said proud of myself. He moved the beds to where I had described while I pretended to help. We both knew I was not helping, but it was fun.

Then we scooted the rocking chair in between the beds. The final product was, my side of the room had my sewing machine my toybox at the end of my bed. And bellas side had the computer while the rocking chair was in middle my drawings that used to line the room was only on my side now. It was perfect.

I sighed happily.

"time to go to bed kiddo." Charlie said.

I quickly got ready for bed. Charlie tucked my in and left to get ready for bed himself. I must have been more tiered than I thought, because I was out fast.

Everything was black I was so comfy I did not want to open my eyes. Someone was rocking me back and forth. I wanted to know who, I tried to open my eyes but I couldn't. Then I heard something. Someone was humming. A lullaby I think. The curiosity was finally strong enough to open my eyes. I opened my eyes to see a kind eyes staring back at me. It was a man with kind wrinkles and a smiling face.

He started walking somewhere, everything sweet and nice. When everything changed. He tripped I was falling. On the way down I saw a women diving for me, trying to catch me, even though her face was blurred. I automatically knew it was my mother. I cried and begged for to catch me but she missed. I landed on the ground and a pain shot through my leg. Everything went black for a second, then Charlie's face was above me. Crying and telling me that I was a perfect baby until… until… Until what I wanted to scream!

"Kennedy honey, time to wake up." Charlie said shaking me.

I sat up groggy, "do I have to?"

"Don't you want to get ready to pick Bella up at the airport?" he said.

"I'm up" I said jumping out of my covers. What happened nest kind of went in slow mow. I had forgotten my crutch and I landed on my bad leg with the brace on it. a pain shot through my leg like in my dream, Charlie's face panicked tried to grab for me but missed. I crumpled onto the floor. My let still hurting, it hurt so bad I wanted to scream. But Charlie was here, so I looked up into his panicked eyes and smiled through the pain. "I guess I need this." I laughed and grabbed for my crutch.

"Are you ok Kennedy?" he asked. He was less tense but still, worried. He helped me up.

"Yah I'm fine." I laughed.

"Are you sure?" he said still worried.

"Charlie." I said waving it off "I'm fine, really."

He eyed me unsure. "Ok if you need anything I will be down stairs." He eyed me unsure one more time then went down stairs. Once he was gone I dropped my crutch and jumped up and down holding my bad leg towards me, screaming silently. I sat down on my bed and rubbed my leg until the pain was dulled.

I grabbed my crutch of the ground, made my bed. Just to make sure everything looked great for Bella. After I was dressed I went down stairs the previous event out of my mind.

Charlie was making eggs and bacon. I laughed. He turned around, "what?" he said smiling.

"trying to cook again dad?" I said.

He laughed, "I think I have eggs and bacon down. I don't burn it anymore." He smiled.

"Ok for starters I suggest you pay attention to what your baking." I said with a smirk on my face.

He looked at me confused for a second, then it registered on his face and he quickly spun around to stir the eggs.

I laughed and after a moment Charlie's deep laugh joined mine. In the end Charlie did a good a good job on breakfast even though the bacon was a little burnt. We were eating breakfast laughing at the crunchy bacon when the phone rang.

Charlie went to get it. "hello?" there was a pause. "I have today off." another pause "but…" Charlie looked upset. "I will be there in a bit." And he hung up the phone.

"Kennedy…" he started

"I understand Charlie. You go I will be fine." I said

"But…" he started again.

"Charlie! Don't but me! You know I will be fine! And were not picking Bella up for another two hours or so." I smiled at him. "I will be fine."

He smiled at me, "that's my Kennedy. Be back in an hour." He grabbed his jacket and went outside. I ran to the window and watched him drive away. Once he was out of sight, I knew what I wanted to do.

I Put on my jacket to and wobbled out into the rain and to the garage. I found my old red wagon, then I went behind the lawnmower and found where I hid my money. I took out a five dollar bill and stuffed it in my pocket going back to the wagon I grabbed the handle with my hand that was not helping me wobble around on my crutch and started the awkward journey to the nearest store a mile away.

I wobbled all the way to the store in thirty minutes, the squeaky wheals telling the neighbors I was passing and people would stick their head out the door and wave at me and ask me where I was going. I would tell them about Bella. I love this town. By the time I got to the store I was soaked but the wagon was ok. I have a small tarp that goes over it so whatever I have in it won't get wet. I parked the wagon outside the store and went inside.

As soon as I went inside the cashier and here customer waved at me. I waved back and went into the craft section. I got two giant signs and a pack of smelly markers.

"four dollars and twenty seven cents please." The cashier said. I gave her the five dollar bill. "So what's the occasion?" she asked.

"Bella is coming over! she is my older sister!" I exclaimed.

"Oh how fun!" the cashier continued, "Any friend of yours is a friend of mine!" I smiled at her and said I had to be on my way.

I put the posters and markers in the wagon and put the tarp that went over it back on, then started for home. Once I got home I expected Charlie to be there but he wasn't. I sighed and parked the wagon in the garage and put all my change in the jar. I grabbed my stuff out of the wagon and ran inside. The message thing on the phone was flashing and I pressed play.

"You have one new message and three old messages." It said, then continued to play Charlie's message. "Hi Kennedy this is Charlie, sorry I'm not home yet but this is taking longer than I thought it would, I will be home at one and we will leave as soon as we can to pick Bella up at two. Love you, dad." It finished then the robot girl voice came back on, "End of messages. Beep"

I sighed again and lay down the posters on the table and started to color. I was sad for a bit but then I remembered that we were going to pick Bella up, nothing can ruin my mood today! Today will be the best day ever! And I smiled.

**Ok that was my first chapter of my first story! Please stay tuned! Would also appreciate it you reviewed! Tell me if you liked it, my mistakes, even if you hated it! PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Haha! I made it to chapter 2! I'm so proud of myself! Thank you**** crabsareamaizing14****! You're awesome! **

**Any way… enjoy chapter 2! :D**

"Bella." My mom said to me- for the last of thousand times –before I got on the plain. "You don't have to do this."

"I want to go." I said. I have always been a bad liar, but I have said it so much lately it almost sounded convincing. Plus I was kind of excited to see Kennedy, I have not seen her since I was six and she was only a few months old then. Now she would be 11 going on 12.

"Tell Charlie I say hi."

"I will."

"I will see you soon." She insisted. "You can come home whenever you want. - I will come home whenever you want."

"Don't worry about me." I urged. "I will be great. Love you, Mom."

She hugged me tightly for a minute, then I got on the plane and she was gone.

It's a four hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle and another hour flight in a small plane to port angles. Then an hours drive to forks with Charlie and Kennedy. Flying doesn't bother me, it's the drive with Charlie and Kennedy that worried me. Would Kennedy be mad at me for never bugging mom to visit her?

I have over heard Renee and Charlie on the phone in hushed whispers while Kennedy would be at school, talking about plans on where Kennedy would stay while Charlie would come for two weeks every summer. Renee does not like to talk about Kennedy, Charlie she's fine talking about, but Kennedy, she always avoids.

When I landed in Port Angles it was raining. Which is no omen; I had already said my goodbyes to the sun.

Charlie was waiting by his cruiser, with a tiny girl next to him. She was short for her age with fair skin and pink cheeks with dimples, her hair just like mine half way down her back, but in ringlets, and cut in layers to frame her perfect heart shaped face. She had giant brown eyes – another thing we had in common – her nose and pink lips were small making her eyes look even bigger. She was wearing neon green t-shirt with skinny jeans and holding a sign so big it looked like it could crush her.

The sign had a whole paragraph on it, so I had to squint so I could read it. It said: Bella! Were over here! I'm so excited that you could come! Dad said we didn't need a sign but I told him that I have seen it in the movies so I had to have one for you!

The next part was so crammed in the corner I could not read it. Charlie and Kennedy had not seen me yet. I saw Charlie say something to Kennedy, then she said something back and Charlie laughed then he took the sign and flipped it. On the other side in Charlie's handwriting it read: BELLA.

I could tell Kennedy did not like the other side of the poster. She started scanning the crowd and she spotted me. I was close enough to hear her now as she squealed and pulled on Charlie's sleeve, "Look there she is! She is so pretty!" she kept on going but I was distracted, I was now close enough to see a brace on one of her legs and a crutch leaning on the side of the cruiser. I had forgotten the about the most important detail, the reason Renee had left – or part of the reason anyway. Kennedy was crippled. Everything was fine besides her leg, it was bent a little sideways even with the brace there and she had to have a crutch to walk.

In my distraction I ran into a man carrying a lot of papers, we both went sprawling on to the floor the papers went up then slowly drifted down. "I'm so sorry!" I gasped. And I was crawling across the airport floor helping the man pick up him – what seemed like a million – papers.

When we were finally done Charlie had helped and so had Kennedy. But she wasn't able to help much. We all handed him our stacks of paper we had picked up. "I'm so sorry, I should have been paying more attention and…" I was cut off by his nasty stare. "Um… I …."

I was cut off again but this time by Kennedy. "Mr. Hanks! How are you?" she said with a cheery voice.

The man that Kennedy had called Mr. Hanks looked over at Kennedy and his whole expression softened. "Hello Kennedy." He said in a gravelly voice, looking at her with approving eyes. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, am here to help pick up my sister, Bella." She said with a grin on her happy face.

"This is your sister!" he asked in shock, and looked at me, I blushed. "Well any sister of yours is a friend of mine." He said, with that he nodded at Kennedy and then left.

I watched him go when all a sudden. Oof! Kennedy was hugging me. I looked down at her and I did not know what to do for a second. What do I do? I finally just hugged her back and stroked her hair like Renee would sometimes do when I was younger.

She looked up and smiled at me, she had one of those smiles that you cannot help but smile back. "That's Mr. Hanks. He be such a party pooper, but don't let him fool you, he is really a sweet guy once you get to know him."

I smiled, Kennedy was nice and sweet. I liked her already.

We got into the car and started the one hour drive to forks. Kennedy was obviously a little shy after hugging me. Charlie told me he got me a car. An old Chevy, half way through our conversation I noticed Kennedy. Whenever we would pass a car Kennedy would wave, and to my surprise they would wave back! I looked at Charlie, "Does she know everyone in this town?"

He shrugged, "It's a possibility." It is a small town, but still! That's a lot of people! More then I knew in Phoenix! That little girl is amazing! I stared at her amazed, she turned around and saw me staring at her and smiled.

"You'll like your car!" she said, "It's so epic! Charlie went to get it right before we left. It was a surprise for me too!"

I had to laugh at her enthusiasm, "If Kennedy likes it then I guess it's good!" I said to Charlie. Kennedy beamed at me. I smiled back at her, happy that I had the power to make that cute face happy.

Just then we pulled into the drive way. I looked at the small house and saw a poster identical to the one Kennedy was holding up in the airport. It said in colorful letters: WELCOME BELLA! There was a picture of sun shining all over the colorful letters. It kind of stood out with all the green everywhere.

Kennedy saw me looking at it and smiled, "I was busy this afternoon too you know. I drew a sun on it because I knew that you would be missing the sun since you're from a really sunny place and this place is really um… not sunny." She said, really fast, like if I didn't let her finish her sentence, I might not like it.

I laughed at her rushed words, "I love it."

She smiled, pride written all over her face. "Come on!" She said with a huge grin, "Charlie said I could show you your car!" Kennedy jumped out of the car and started wobbling towards the garage. She had this cute way of walking. Her crutch was a little too big for her, so she would bob up and down.

I smiled again and followed her. In the garage there was an old red Chevy. To my surprise, I loved it! My moment of silence worried Kennedy. "Do you not like it?" she said, and for the first time I saw her frown, "I'm sure we could get you a better car, or if you don't like the color we can…"

I cut her off, "I love it!"I turned to Charlie, "Thanks Charlie!"

Kennedy beamed again then started to wobble inside. "Just wait till I show you our room! I heard blue is your favorite color, so is mine!" she kept on talking while Charlie and I trailed behind her into the house. I looked at Kennedy then at Charlie; Charlie had this look of pride and affection in his eyes I had never seen before, in the two weeks he would come down every summer. That look he gave Kennedy he had never given to mom, or me.

Regret washed through me, I should have insisted that I come visit Charlie and Kennedy more! I should have written them a letter once a month or something! The feeling stayed with me until we got to the room Kennedy and I would be sharing. The room was adorable! It had light blue walls white carpet with Christmas lights lining the room.

"The computer is yours, of course. The rocking chair can be both of ours, and you can move Mr. Epic if you want." She said almost skipping around the room. "Half the closet is yours for keepers!" she finished with a big sigh. Then turned to me, "I'm so glad you're here, so is Charlie, even though he won't say it out loud."

I turned around expecting Charlie to be behind me, but he was not there. That was the good thing about Charlie, he didn't linger. "So, Kennedy..." I said hesitant. This was the first time we had been alone, "which bed is mine?"

She smiled, "I guess that's kind of important. Yours is the one closest to the door… but only if that's ok with you! I can sleep over there if you want to, I just choose this side with my sewing machine..."

I laughed; this little girl was so considerate of others. She was so cute! "I'm fine with either."

She sighed. "Great." then her eyes widened "I'm sorry! Not great, that came out wrong! I meant that's good!" she sighed again but this time sad. "Sorry… I just can't talk today." She paused and studied me, "I guess I will leave you to unpack then." She said and wobbled out of the room. I smiled after her, such a sweet girl. My guilt was growing, why didn't I ever gotten to know my little sister before!

I put my clothes in the closet with tons of room to spare. I really needed to go shopping! I looked around the room; Kennedy had this way of making everything cute, her handwriting was loopy and tilted, from what I could tell from the report she had written on where her dream vacation would be.

I wandered to her side of the room; she had clothing designs taped to the wall. And I had to admit they were pretty cute, that's saying something considering that I was not that big on fashion. I walked over to the sewing machine. It sat on white desk with a cutting board underneath it. there was a cute flower pin holder and a blue and pink striped sewing box with a giant bow on it.

I couldn't help myself, I opened the sewing box, and there was a piece of paper on top of all the sewing machine. I picked the piece of paper up. It looked like the same type of paper she used to sketch her designs like on the wall. I slowly unfolded it on the front there was a picture of a darling baby dress. On the other side there was some writing, it read:

Mrs. Smith's new baby

Tiny! :)

Pretty! (just like her mom)

Chubby

Green eyes

Blonde hair

Giggly!

There was little hearts around this list, which just made this piece of paper cuter! So that's what she was sewing right know, the cute little pink dress in the sewing machine.

Could Kennedy get any cuter?

"I like to list characteristics of the person I'm sewing for, it helps me design what I'm sewing for them." Kennedy said behind me.

I jumped like two feet in the air.

She laughed, "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought you might want to eat dinner with us."

I blushed at being caught, "um yah dinner sounds nice."

"Charlie bought pizza. Cause let me tell you, he has no cooking talent what-so-ever! It's kind of sad. We usually eat microwave dinner or something of the sort." She shrugged, "I'm used to it."

We headed down stairs to the kitchen to where Charlie was sitting at the table. "Hey, dinner is ready." He said.

We all sat down and started eating; Kennedy made the dinner less awkward, with her easy going and happy spirit. Talking and laughing, I don't remember the last time I had talked so much! Kennedy wanted to know everything about me. She has this way of talking that made you feel special and beautiful.

After a while Kennedy's eyes started drooping. "We better get Kennedy to bed." He chuckled. He carried her bridal stile to our room while I started dishes. After a while he came down and helped me finish. There was not a lot of dishes from dinner but there was breakfast and lunch dishes too.

It was quiet for a while then I broke the silence, "she is such a cute child." I sighed.

He nodded in agreement, "Sometimes I think she is the perfect child. So cute, happy and always helping people."

"And not to mention she can sew." I added.

He chuckled, "yes and many other things to. But her leg…" he trailed off.

"Is not your fault." I finished for him.

"I know." He sighed. He was quiet until we had finished the dishes. "Well goodnight Bella." He smiled at me. "Kennedy is really excited you're here and so am I." he smiled and patted me on the back then headed up stairs.

I watched him go up, and then headed up myself. I walked into our room and switched on the lights. I was half way to the closet when I remembered Kennedy was sleeping. I gasped and ran back to the light switch as quietly as I could, switching it back off.

I got ready for bed quietly as I could, and climbed in bed. I looked over at Kennedy, she was curled up into a ball hugging all the blankets to herself she was smiling. I smiled back, even though she could not see me, and tried to go to sleep.

**Hey ya'll! I hoped you liked it! Not a lot of action, but I'm working on it. I know this looks like a small chapter, but hey! This was 6 ½ pages on my word document! I will try my best to update once a week. Thanks again ****crabsareamazing14**** and… thank you so much if you're reading this! :D**

**REVIEW! PLEASE AND THANK YOU! 33333**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey ya'll! I owe you a big sorry! But I can explain my tardiness! But I won't, because it's kind of long, so I will just be quiet and start typing!**

I laid in bed for a long time listening to the rain slam into the roof and windows. Finally I decided I wouldn't be able to go to bed any way, I slowly crept out of bed and towards the bathroom that I shared with Charlie and Kennedy. I had already brushed my teeth and all the necessaries so I got out my brush and started to brush my hair. Even though I had not been lying in bed long, my hair already had some tangles. I brushed it absent mindedly until it was smooth and shiny again. I then looked into the mirror, maybe it was the light, but already I looked shallower, unhealthy. My skin could be pretty – it was very clear, almost translucent looking – but it all depended on the color. I had no color here.

I sat there staring for a long time. And finally I walked back to my bed and climbed back into the sheets. I stared up at the ceiling for the longest time, thinking. Kennedy, she was like the mini Renee, but more caring. And Kennedy can sew, no matter what Renée tried. She could never have one motherly quality. There was the comforting me, on the occasionally, and her motherly love. But that's it.

But Kennedy, she would make a great mom. She was also so nice to everybody while I was uncomfortable around anyone but Renee. That little girl probably l knows everyone in town! Well I guess that's one of the benefits of living in the small rainy town of Forks. I didn't relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn't get well with people, period. I wasn't even the same harmony as my mother.

I tossed in my bed trying to get more comfortable. But as I did I heard Kennedy whine. I froze. Thinking I woke her up. She whined one more time then went quiet, I sighed in relief. It wasn't me, she was probably just having a bad dream.

I tossed around again, but this time trying to be a little quieter. Just as I got comfortable my eyes started to refuse my orders to stay open. The rain drops on the window started to sound more like a soft drum of a melody then breaking glass sound it had earlier.

I was on the bridge of sleeping when a blood curling scream ripped through the room. I shot up in my bed. I looked around the room for that sad scream.

My eyes fell upon Kennedy. She was still in bed and her eyes were closed, but her breath was fast and uneven. Her hands were clutching her leg in panic. I threw the covers off of me and bolted over to Kennedy.

I stopped at the side of the bed. Not sure of myself. "Kennedy!?" I whispered. Her uneven breathing continued. I started to panic. "Kennedy!?" I said a bit louder. When there was no response I hesitated but sat down on her bed and started stroking her hair. I got more confident about myself each stroke. "Kennedy." I said in a solid voice.

She shot up and looked around the room confused, and then her eyes fell on me. There was a moment were both of us were quiet and staring into the others eyes. Then she hugged me so sudden and tight that it knocked the wind out of me. It took me a second to recompose, but when I did I resumed stroking her hair.

"Are you ok?" I ask.

She breathed really hard for a bit, and when it slowed down a bit, she said in a breathless voice, "Yah I think so. It was just a dream."

We were quiet for a bit, I wanted to ask what it was about. But something in her eyes told me not to. And if I did she wouldn't tell me. It was quiet for a long time. Me, sitting on the side of her bed stroking her hair, and Kennedy's arms wrapped around me like cords. Then she pulled away. "Sorry to wake you." She said, and by looking in her eyes I could see she meant it.

"It's fine." I say, "I couldn't sleep anyway."

"Sorry." She said again.

"What for?" I ask. What in the world did she have to be sorry about?

"The rain." She says simply.

I let out a tiny laugh. "It's not your fault it's always raining in Forks."

She smiles "I know." She looked down in her lap, quiet again. "We should go to bed, we have school tomorrow." She finally sighs.

I smile back and walk back over to my bed and lay down. It hasn't even been 24 hours and we were already acting like sisters. I could get used to this. When I lived with Renee, it was like I was the only child, and I liked it. But Kennedy had this air around her that made you like her. The way she talks and moves.

I had a quick nasty thought; _maybe we only liked her out of pity of her leg_. I dismissed the thought with disgust. Who couldn't like Kennedy for Kennedy?

The rain outside had stopped and Kennedy's breathing was even again. My eyes were dropping and before I knew it I was asleep too.

When I woke up in the morning, Kennedy was still asleep. I headed down stairs, on the counter there was a note:

_Bella-_

_I left for work, it was important. Breakfast is in the cupboard above the sink, bowls are to the left. Try not to wake Kennedy up, her school starts late, and a car pool is arranged._

_Charlie_

I smiled at Charlie's note. But the feeling quickly vanished, if I had insisted to come and visit Kennedy at least once. I would know where the bowls were. I frowned at the thought. But I continued to search for where Charlie had said the bowls and cereal were.

I ate the cereal, not really tasting it, my chewing loud in the empty room. I had not really thought about school, not a lot anyway. I was thinking more about Kennedy. That was a big mistake. In a small town like Forks, gossip spread fast. I would be the city kid, a freak.

When I finished I washed my bowl out and put it away. It was too early to be heading to school, so I wondered around a bit. I had not been in this house since I was six. Renee had done all the decorating then. But now it looked like Kennedy did all the decorating. Lots of pictures hung on the wall and stood on desks with lamps. It was obvious that Charlie had not gotten over Renee, and it was a little unnerving. But as I continued to look at all the pictures, I began to see that Charlie was replacing Renee with Kennedy. I was glad that he found some way to get over Renee.

As I kept looking around I noticed a pattern. I couldn't put my finger on it though. Finally I found it. There were no pictures of Renee or me, anywhere in the house. Mom had said she sent my school pictures to Charlie. But as I continued to look around, I saw that either she didn't. Or Charlie choose to not hang them on the wall. The last option brought a stab of pain to my chest. Did Charlie not like me the way Renee didn't like Kennedy? I forced the topic out of my head for now and continued to search the house.

Kennedy's little way of cuteness was all over the house, hanging on the fridge, some in frames hanging on the wall, everywhere. There was a picture with Kennedy on Charlie's back. It was fall and instead of the alien green color, Forks was lit up in with bright healthy colors. It had strange effect on me. I frowned, it took me a second to put my finger on it but when I did I was surprised at my selfishness. I felt left out. But that was my fault. I never bugged Renee about Kennedy. I turned my attention back to the photo.

The picture captured the moment; Charlie looked at Kennedy, smiling, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Kennedy smiled back her straight teeth gleaming. I studied it for a long time. I could have been standing there for minutes or seconds. I didn't care I just sat there staring at the picture in which I was not in.

When suddenly I heard floor boards creak under a foot, I spun around so fast my hair whipped my face. And I was met face to face, or more like met face to belly with Kennedy. I gasped in surprise.

"Kennedy!" I gasped clutching my chest. "You scared me!"

She smiled, "I scare Charlie to!" she laughed. "Have you ever seen a grown man jump?" We both giggled a little. Then her face got serious, "I wanted to know when your school started."

I stared at her in confusion, "Why?" She just gestured to the clock hanging on the wall. I looked at the clock then gasped in surprise. That time all ready!?

I gasped and ran to the door yanking my black jacket of the hook. I was half way to my truck when I gasped again and turned back to the house. I poked my head in the door and yelled into the house to Kennedy. "Thanks!" I heard a muffled "Your welcome!" as I slammed the door closed.

I started the old red truck up and started to drive to school. We had passed it on the way back from the airport; Charlie had pointed it out to me.

It was a little old building that you couldn't even tell was a school if it weren't for the old sign. I rushed into the office, trying my best not to trip. Inside it was brightly lit, and warmer than I had hoped. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs. Orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of paper and brightly colored flyers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made me feel over dressed.

"You must be Isabella Swan." I was still out of breath so I just nodded. "Not the best way to start your first day of school." She said shaking her head, but still smiling. "But the tardy bell hasn't rung yet. You might make it."

I smiled thankfully at her, as she handed me my schedule, and map of the school. I walked back out of the main office building and started searching for building number 3.

Most of the cars were already here so I could see my car didn't stick out. Most of the cars were older like mine. The nicest car here was a Volvo and it stood out.

I kept my face pulled back into my hood as I walked, the sidewalk that had few teenagers on it. My plain black jacket didn't stand our much either, I noticed in relief.

Once I got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square on the east corner. I felt my breathing gradually creeping towards hyperventilation as I approached the door. I tried holding my breath as I followed two raincoats through the door.

The classroom was small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one a porcelain-colored blonde, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least my skin wouldn't be a standout here.

I took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at me when he saw my name — not an encouraging response, I wondered if it was because of me being me, or the reason I was Kennedys long lost sister — and of course I flushed tomato red. But at least he sent me to an empty desk at the back without introducing me to the class. It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me in the back, but somehow, they managed.

I kept my eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given me. It was fairly basic: Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner. I'd already read everything. That was comforting… and boring. I wondered if my mom would send me my folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating.

I went through different arguments with her in my head while the teacher droned on.

When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me.

"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" He looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.

"Bella," I corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.

"Kennedy's sister?" He asked again. I got the feeling he already knew the answer.

I flushed again, "Yah that's me." Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around? Them saying to Kennedy, _aren't you Bella's sister? _Cause I was the older one.

"Where's your next class?" he asked.

I had to check in my bag." Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."

There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes. Some looked at me with recognition in their eyes - probably seeing the Kennedy in me.

"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way…" Definitely over-helpful, "I'm Eric," he added.

I smiled tentatively. "Thanks."

We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.

"So, I know your little sister." he said.

"Do you?" I ask, it wasn't a big surprise.

"Yah, her and my younger brother have a few classes together."

"Are they friends?" I wanted to know. I wondered if she just knew everyone in town, or was friends with everyone in town.

"Oh, well Pete talks about her a lot." he says shrugging it off.

"Oh" I say awkwardly looking down at my feet as we walk.

"You don't look very tan." He blurts out.

"What?" I ask taken aback.

"Well you grew up in Arizona and I figured its sunny there so…" He trailed off, looking down at his shoes, figuring out to late about how much he should know about me.

"My mother is part albino." I say feeling bad for his awkwardness.

"What?" he said his face jerking back up.

"The reason I'm not tan." I sigh.

He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humor didn't mix a few months of this and I'd forget how to use sarcasm.

We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.

"Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful I smiled at him vaguely and went inside.

The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, who I would have hated anyway just because of the subject he taught, was the only one who made me stand in front of the class and introduce myself.

I stammered, blushed, and tripped over my own boots on the way to my seat.

After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks, or telling me they knew Kennedy. I tried to be diplomatic, but mostly I just lied a lot.

Another down side was I hadn't had time to study the map so I had my head stuck in my map all day.

One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of the difference between our heights. She also kept reminding me that her little sister and Kennedy were like best of friends. . I couldn't remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she prattled about teachers, Kennedy and classes. I didn't try to keep up.

We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me also that I was Kennedy's older sister. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.

It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, trying to explain mine and Kennedy's relationship, when I first saw them.

They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me, or bothering me about Kennedy, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention.

They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big — muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair.

Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond.

The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair. He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students.

The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back.

The short girl was pixie like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.

And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town, paler than me, the albino.

They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes — purplish, bruise like shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.

But all this is not why I couldn't look away.

I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful — maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze haired boy.

They were all looking away — away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray — unopened soda, unbitten apple — and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible.

My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.

I wondered idly if Kennedy knew them, "Who are they?" I asked the girl from my Spanish class, whose name I'd forgotten.

As she looked up to see who I meant — though already knowing, probably, from my tone — suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps.

He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine. He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, though in a flush of embarrassment I dropped my eyes at once. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest — it was as if she had called his name, and he'd looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.

My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.

"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said this under her breath.

I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.

Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had. But maybe that was in vogue here — small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home.

"They are… very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all together though — Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically.

But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.

"Which ones are the Cullen's?" I asked. "They don't look related…"

"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins — the blondes — and they're foster children."

"They look a little old for foster children."

"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."

"That's really kind of nice — for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything." I thought of Charlie taking care of Kennedy. I immediately liked them after that thought.

"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason was jealousy.

"I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness.

Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat.

"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked.

"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like me. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."

I felt a surge of pity, and relief. Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer here and certainly not the most interesting by any standard. As I examined them, the youngest, one of the Cullens, looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression.

As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.

"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today — he had a slightly frustrated expression. I looked down again.

"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down.

I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too.

After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful — even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again.

I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if I'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for class on my first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me the next hour. She also had a younger sibling in the same grade as Kennedy.

We walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too.

When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.

As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face — it was hostile, furious.

I looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.

I'd noticed that his eyes were black — coal black. Every one so far had liked me, or at lest been nice because they knew Kennedy. Did he know Kennedy and not like her? What did she do to him that could be so bad as that menacing look he gave me?

Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he had no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by him, bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given me, still wondering what Kennedy – a sweet girl – could of ever done to him.

I didn't look up as I set my book on the table and took my seat, but I saw his posture change from the corner of my eye. He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair. It smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favorite shampoo, I remembered with fondness that Kennedys hair smelled like Strawberries too. It seemed an innocent enough odor. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.

Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd already studied. I took notes carefully anyway, always looking down. Trying to think of Kennedy instead of Edwards evil glare.

I couldn't stop myself from peeking occasionally through the screen of my hair at the strange boy next to me. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from me as possible. I could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. This, too, he never relaxed.

He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother.

The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because I was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing.

What was wrong with him?

Was this his normal behavior? I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as I'd thought.

It couldn't have anything to do with me. Could it? Maybe He just didn't like the Swan family and I was just another addition.

I peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion. As I flinched away from him, shrinking against my chair, the phrase if looks could kill suddenly ran through my mind. He was the opposite of Kennedy. Kennedy was so nice and gentle, liking me at first glance. Edward hard bitterness made me want to hide behind Kennedy.

At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Edward Cullen was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose — he was much taller than I'd thought — his back to me, and he was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.

I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn't fair. I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up. For some reason, my temper was hardwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried when I was angry, a humiliating tendency.

"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a male voice asked.

I looked up to see a cute, baby-faced boy, his pale blond hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me in a friendly way.

He obviously didn't think I smelled bad.

"Bella," I corrected him, with a smile.

"I'm Mike."

"Hi, Mike."

"Do you need any help finding your next class?"

"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."

"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school this small.

We walked to class together; he was a chatterer — he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for me. He was the first that didn't tell me he knew Kennedy. He didn't have any siblings. He'd lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. It turned out he was in my English class also. He was the nicest person I'd met today.

But as we were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."

I cringed. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that wasn't Edward Cullen's usual behavior. I decided to play dumb.

"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" I asked artlessly.

"Yes," he said. "He looked like he was in pain or something."

"I don't know," I responded. "I never spoke to him."

"He's a weird guy."

Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."

I smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring. But it wasn't enough to ease my irritation.

The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn't make me dress down for today's class. At home, only two years of P.E. were required. Here, P.E. was mandatory all four years.

I watched four volleyball games running simultaneously. Remembering how many injuries I had sustained — and inflicted — playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated. Kennedy probably got out of sports easily because of her leg. I missed Kennedy and her happy face already. I was already so sick of school, and rather be home catching up with Kennedy.

The final bell rang at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder. I wrapped my arms around myself.

When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked back out.

Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of me.

I recognized again that tousled bronze hair. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.

He was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time — any other time

I just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something else, something that happened before I entered the Biology room. The look on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to Kennedy or me. Was it Charlie? Did Charlie ever do anything to him? I was suddenly defensive of my family.

The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face.

The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Edward Cullen's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare at me — his face was absurdly handsome — with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, I felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms. The look only lasted a second, but it chilled me more than the freezing wind.

He turned back to the receptionist.

"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And he turned on his heel without another look at me, and disappeared out the door.

I went meekly to the desk, my face white for once instead of red, and handed her the signed slip.

"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked.

"Fine," I lied, my voice weak. She didn't look convinced.

When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest thing to home I had in this damp green hole. I sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life. I headed back to Charlie's house, fighting tears the whole way there. I couldn't wait to see Kennedy's happy face.

**Uhg, that took forever to type. And yes this chapter does quote the book pretty well. Some chapters it will be pretty close to the book and others not so much. Some will be in Kennedy's Point Of View. Any way Sorry again for taking forever to get this up! And review! Please and thank you! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Next chapter is up and ready! You're welcome for not taking FOREVER! I had some… problems (AKA my younger's sibling) Ha-ha So Very Early Merry Christmas! My Gift to you! :D**

"Bye Kennedy! See you tomorrow!" Zack called out from the back of the car. I just waved at him as I stepped out of the car that was my car pool. It was just drizzling outside. It was chilly, but I didn't want to wear my jacket when then door to my house was ten steps away.

"Is that your sister's car?" Macy asked. I loved Macy all the way down to her guts. She was so nice to everyone. She had dark brown hair that she woke up early just to curl every day. She had bright braces, and somehow her braces made her look even cuter. She was small for a twelve year old girl. Small, cute, and the face that wasn't sharp and sexy, but one that was so cute and innocent you liked her instantly.

I looked at the red Chevy truck behind me, and for a second I was surprised to see a car there. Then I remembered Bella and that she was inside waiting for me now. I smiled at Macy, "No it's my goats car." She smiled; Macy was never slow with her comebacks.

"How did your goat get its license before me!?" She asked with fake surprise.

I laughed, "As much as I would love to talk about my goat, I got to go." I leaned my head back into the car. "Thanks for the ride Mrs. Webber!" I said looking at the driver.

She smiled back at me, "Anything for you Kennedy. Tell your sister I said hi!" I smiled back at her, Zack's mom was awesome. I Said bye to Macy, Zack and Sarah before I backed up from the car and slammed the door behind me.

I then wobbled inside before I could get anymore wet. I walked into the kitchen to see Bella staring at the wall. I stood there for a second wondering what I should do. Then I spoke up, "How was your first day?" She spun around quickly her face scared, when she saw me her face relaxed into a smile.

"That's twice in one day." She said still smiling. I laughed; it wasn't that I was supper sneaky. Bella and Charlie were too easy to scare.

"You're just too easy to scare." I laughed

"Well you'd be too if there was a little girl…" She stood up slowly, her expression serious. "about this tall…" she waved her hand around the height of my head, "Who lived in your house, constantly armed with a very dangerous…" she then came up to me and bent down to whisper in my ear, "Crutch." Then she scooped me up into her arms holding me to her stomach, my crutch falling to the down to the kitchen floor forgotten. I squealed in delight as she carried me to the living room and dropped me on the couch. She then knelt down and started tickling me until I was sure my cheeks were going to burst with giggles.

**Bella's POV**

It was just like babysitting. I loved babysitting; I could always be silly with the kids. But when the parents got home I was the responsible careful person they thought I was. Kennedy may be 11 going on 12, but she was fun to play with and I could tease her.

I finally subsided tickling her, her face was red and she gasped in air.

"Your…. Lucky….. I…. like you… Mrs. Bella Swan." She laughed gasping every other word. I smiled at her.

"You hungry?" I asked, standing up. She was beginning to have control over her breathing again but it still took her a second to respond.

"Bella." She says, she now looked me in the eyes very serious. For a second I panicked, did I do something wrong? "Do you think I got this fat from not eating?" She lifted her shirt just high enough so I could see her belly. I pretended to study it, her belly didn't have any fat on it; it was so flat it looked like she worked out.

"You are not fat!" I exclaimed. And it was true.

She just scoffed. "Anyway," she continued, "Roman will be fine." I smile at her and head towards the kitchen. I had put the pot on the stove, full on mature Bella again, when I heard Kennedy clear her throat in the living room.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" She said from the living room. It took me a second to realize what she meant. But when I did I was ashamed of myself for forgetting. I walked around the table to pick up Kennedys crutch were it laid on the floor. I walked back into the living room to give it to her. She was sitting up on the couch slumped in a defeated kind of way.

"Here." I said handing it to her. I could tell we were both embarrassed, her because without that crutch she couldn't walk, and me because I had forgotten that she needed it.

I handed it to her and we both just kind of sat there looking anywhere but each other. I finally looked at her and said' "So you really can't…"

"Yah..." She said cutting me off, looking down at her shoes. I didn't know what to say. It will be ok? But she already knew that, I mean she's eleven. So I just grunted and headed back into the kitchen to finish my Ramen. The water was boiling so I added the noodles and the flavoring. It was chicken flavored. I just stared into the pot stirring even though it was done. I heard her creak into the kitchen and sit down at one of the chairs. I finally looked up, "It's done." I got out two bowls from where I had gotten my cereal bowl from this morning and then got out two forks.

I handed her one of the bowls with the ramen in it she mutter a thanks and we ate in silence. To be honest, it was the longest I had heard Kennedy be quiet. I was too socially awkward to break the silence, so the silence stretched on.

I felt like if this silence went any longer I was going to burst. But I didn't say anything and neither did she. But finally what felt like an hour later she finally spoke up. "So, how was your first day of school?" She asked. It was a simple question a conversation starter, but at that moment I wanted to hug her for breaking the silence.

I cleared my throat, "It was…. Fine." I said remembering Edward and his horribly violent gaze. When she didn't say anything else I continued. "A lot of people told me they knew you." I told her hoping she would take the bait.

She smiled quickly, "Sorry, it gets annoying."

I smiled back grateful that she didn't ask me about why my day at school was only '_fine_'. "Let's see…." I said trying to remember everyone's names. "There was Jessica..." I was cut off by Kennedy.

"Your friends with Jessica?!" She asked stunned.

"I wouldn't say friends; I mean I barely know her but…"

"Her little sister Sarah is the sweetest girl ever! So shy and nice!" I thought about Jessica. If Jessica was anything like Sarah her younger sister, I haven't seen it in her yet. Jessica was more of the talkative than shy.

I didn't know what to say about it so I just continued. "And there was um… Angel? Anne? Angela? Yah I think it was Angela."

Her grin got bigger and bigger. "Angela Webber?" She said still smiling her happy ecstatic smile.

"I think so…" I said trying to remember.

"You have the best choices of friends!" she said happily as she took her first bite of her Ramen noodle. I smiled at her glad I could make her happy, I too took my first bite. The noodles were warm and sent happiness surging through me.

"Anyone else?" She asked in between noodles.

I laughed at her, "Slow down." She was slurping up the noodles at a surprisingly fast speed.

"These are the best noodles I've ever had!" She said, taking a break from gobbling down her noodles.

"It's just Ramen noodles. Not that hard to perfect."

"But it's not too watery and not too chickeny!" She exclaimed.

"Chickeny?" I ask holding back a laugh.

She looked at me and smiled with a shrug, "Any way. Are you going to tell me if you met anyone else?"

I laugh "Um well a lot of people told me they knew you, there was this one kid named Eric who said…"

"Eric? He has a little brother." She twisted her face like she had licked a lemon. "Pete kissed me in the second grade."

I laugh at her embarrassment, Eric had said they weren't friends but I was surprised that Kennedy didn't like someone. So far she seemed to know everyone and like everybody.

"So…." Kennedy said changing the subject. "What's it like in Phoenix." I had heard that question a ton today, but when Kennedy asked It, I didn't mind.

We sat in there a long time just talking about stuff that didn't matter but did at the same time. I felt like I only had a day to catch up on eleven years missed in Kennedy's life. Our empty bowls sat in front of us but both of us were too deep into conversation to care about standing up and putting them into the sink.

I didn't know if it had been hours or minutes but Charlie came home and found us laughing so hard that we were clutching our stomachs over something that Kennedy had done with her best friend Macy. When he walked into the room we were laughing so hard no sound came out so we just sat there clapping our hands like some seals from the circus.

He froze shocked in the door way. It took a lot of effort but I forced myself to stop laughing. I took a couple of calming breaths then looked at him. His face was frozen in a half amusement and half horror sort of way. His hand was on his chest like he was trying to clutch his heart. That just made me and Kennedy laugh even harder. We laughed so hard this time that I wasn't breathing. My chest hurt from not breathing my stomach hurt from laughing so hard. My throat was soar from the time we had spent talking. And at that second I decided, I liked this. This was more fun than I had ever had with Renee. I stop laughing so I could take a shaky breath in. I looked over to Kennedy to see that she was having a hard time calming herself down too.

It took a second for Charlie to realize that we weren't choking on anything, when he figured out we were laughing so hard to the point of peeing our pants, he let out a relived chuckle. I would of chuckled with him if my stomach didn't hurt from laughing so hard.

"I'm guessing you girls had fun." He asked even though the answer was obvious. Kennedy and me just smiled and exchanged looks.

He grunted like he didn't want to ruin the moment, "What do you girls want for dinner?" He asked. I looked over at him; he looked tired from a long day of work. He clearly really just wanted to sit down and take a break. But making dinner was in the way.

"I'll make dinner." I say jumping up, back to the Bella that Renee knew.

"Are you su.."

"Of course," I quickly answer. He was already letting me stay here while Renee and Phil had their fun. "It will be a thank you dinner." I say with a smile.

When Charlie still looked unsure Kennedy leaned over to him and whispered, "Take the offer. That girl knows how to make some tasty roman."

Charlie, to worn out to protest went and turned on the TV.

**Kennedy's POV**

Ever since I was little I knew that my mom left me with Charlie, taking the other, non-crippled daughter, with her. I missed having a mother, in the movies they would have cookies waiting for their children when they got home. They would gather their children into their arms and tell them how much they loved them. I had a dad though, one that's just like the dads in the movies. Overly protective, can't cook, and don't show much emotion. I know I should be grateful Charlie didn't ditch me either. He stuck by my side and showed me how to work around my leg. Sure I couldn't play any sports, or even play tag. But I am grateful that it was only one leg, and that I'm not in a wheel chair.

But, I don't know why my leg is messed up. Every night I have a different dream, last night I had a dream where I was two and I fell off of the play ground. The ground zooming towards me, when I hit the ground my leg throbbed like it had the night before, and the night before and every night I could remember. But what is the real reason my leg was messed up?

I was suddenly jerked out of my thoughts by Bella. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, "What did you ask?" I ask Bella. We were now in our room getting ready for bed. Bella had made some great pasta and Charlie and I had gulped it down like we had never tasted food before.

"What are you thinking about?" Bella asked again.

I didn't want to tell her about my leg so I answered her question with a question. "What's our mom like?" I ask Bella across the room. She is getting changed into her pajamas, so I sat cross legged on my bed, my back to her.

"Well she's very happy." Bella started awkwardly.

"What does she look like?" I ask.

"She has dark brown hair; you get your brown eyes from Charlie because Renée has blue eyes." I closed my eyes and pictured her, the perfect mom, soft and loving."

"She sounds wonderful." I sigh.

By Bella's silence I could tell she didn't agree. "Does she make you cookies after school?"

Bella let out a soft snort. "It's more like I make HER cookies when I get home from school. I'm done."

I turn around to see Bella in her pajamas, just a T-shirt with sweats.

"Did she sing you to bed when you were younger?" I ask.

"Not really…" she said thoughtfully.

"Did she make you home lunches for school with little notes?"

"I made my own home lunches."

"What does she do!?" I ask desperate.

"Um…" Bella looked off thoughtfully. I fall back into my bed, what kind of mom was that; one that her own daughter doesn't know what she does for her! Bella left the room to go brush her teeth. I just stared at the ceiling waiting for her to get back.

Bella walked into the room turning off the light and jumping into her bed. We were both drifting off when I could barely hear Bella when she said, "She's there for me. That's what she does for me."

That night I didn't dream of my leg and how it got all messed up. I dreamed of a mother abusing her child in mental ways, maturing her faster then she should have. I woke up late in the night, the dream still lingering in my head; I curled up into a ball and cried for Bella, cried for my aching leg, and cried for a loving mother.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Sorry again, Schools back in so I won't be able to update as often. Sorry but here is chapter 5! I can't believe I got so far…. Anyway enjoy! :)**

The next day was better and worse, I knew what to expect out of the day though. That made it a little better. We played volleyball and the only time I didn't cringe out of the way I hit one of my team mates. See? Bad. But what really set me off was Edward wasn't there.

I kept thinking he would show up at the worst times. I hoped it would go away as the week continued. But as the week continued towards Friday I got more edgy, on Thursday night as we were getting ready for bed Kennedy asked me why I was so edgy.

"Well…" I trailed off. I didn't want to lie to Kennedy. "There's a guy at school..." I was cut off by Kennedy.

"Who!? Do you like him? Do I know him!?" She said happily. The thing about Kennedy is that, she's happy and joyful like Renée but she doesn't get all jumpy and squeal. She's calm and collected like Charlie in that way. It was a strange mix but good on Kennedy.

"No." I laughed, "I don't think you know him." She instantly grew serious.

"I seriously doubt that." She says calmly.

I laugh at her, "His name is Edward."

She looks thoughtfully up at the ceiling. Her eyes slowly came down to mine, "I don't know him." I didn't think so. I thought smugly. "That's weird." She said still thoughtful. "So what about him is bugging you?"

"Well…" I continued hesitantly, "The first day of school he seemed to hate me. He gave me deathly glares." She gasped in horror like I was telling her someone had just killed all the kittens in Forks. I smiled at her fondly. She made it so easy to like her, "Then he wasn't here the rest of the week, like he's avoiding me."

Kennedy thought about this for a second, another thing I like about Kennedy, She didn't just tell you it's going to be ok. She thought about it then when she did tell you it was ok, you could tell that she meant it. "Bella," Kennedy said looking me straight in the eyes. "I'm sure has sick or on a family vacation." She said shrugging off.

"But his other two brothers and two sisters are at school." I say frustrated.

"Well then he must be sick." She said sure of herself.

"Maybe..." I say uncertain.

She groans at my unwillingness to admit it. I smile at her and go turn off the lights to our room. I crawl into bed. Its quiet for the longest time but then Kennedy breaks the silence. "You're thinking about Edward, aren't you?" She says.

The truth was, I WAS thinking about him. "Maybe…" I say.

I hear her laugh in the darkness, and then I hear some wrestling from that direction. All of a sudden pillow goes whizzing through the air and hits me square on the chest. I make a little "Oof" and Kennedy starts laughing. She threw a pillow at me! I quickly recover from my shock and pick up the pillow she threw at me and throw it in the direction of her laughing.

I wait a second to see if I hit her. I hear a thump and her gasp. Its my turn to laugh when another pillow comes whizzing through the air at me. Soon it's a battle zone and were both laughing hysterically.

From the room across the hall I hear Charlie yell, "Go to bed kids!" Kennedy and I calm down. Until were both just barely laughing.

We both fall asleep that night with smiles on our lips.

**Kennedy's POV**

That morning I woke up with a plan. Bella had already left for school and my car pooling would be here in an hour. I could just pull this off!

I crawled out of my bed. It was Friday and so all the teachers wouldn't be giving us homework. They're just nice like that. I really COULD just pull this off! I grabbed my crutch from where it was resting at the end of my bed and wobbled down stairs. It's pretty hard to go down the stairs when you're a crippled, but years of practice make it easy.

I grab a banana and wobble back upstairs to get dressed. When I'm dressed in my usual, a neon t-shirt with skinny jeans and converses, I go to the phone. I clear my throat, "This his Kennedy." I say in a raspy voice. "No," I say to myself, "Not to sick." I clear my throat again. I plug my nose then speak, "This is Kennedy." I say in a high distorted voice. "That's it!"

This time I pick up the phone and dialed Mrs. Stanley's number. It was her turn to provide the ride for us.

"Hello?" Sarah said picking up the phone.

I plugged my nose and started to talk, "Sarah?"

"Oh my goodness Kennedy, what's wrong!?" She said automatically worried about my health. I tried to hold back a laugh. I had the best friends in the world.

"I just have a stuffy nose and a headache." I sniffled to add effect.

"Oh no! Kennedy I'm so sorry! Anything I can do to help?" Her voiced filled with concern.

"No, no. Don't mind me. I just won't need a ride to school today." I said, still plugging my nose.

"Do you need me to call Charlie for you?"

"NO!" I gasped, that would ruin everything. "No, I don't want to bother him." I said calmer, then sniffed again.

"Ok," She said hesitantly, "Get better soon ok?"

I smiled at her through the phone, "I will try!" then we both said bye then hung up.

I didn't waist a moment. I wobbled into the kitchen and made cookies, chocolate chip. It took my two hours, but it was worth it. By the time I had gotten all the cookies out of the oven and washed the dishes you could smell the cookies from anywhere in the house. I put a one and a half dozen on a paper plate with plastic wrap over it. What? The boy was sick! He needed a lot of cookies!

I wobbled out to the garage with the cookies in hand. I put them in my special wagon and secured the tarp on top with the bungee cords. I wobbled out of the garage using one hand to stabilize the crutch underneath me and pulling the wagon handle with the other. I didn't know where he lives, but it can't be too hard… Right?

I was way wrong. I think I stopped at every gas station, every store in forks. No one knew where they lived! Not a soul could point me in the direction of their house. After an hour of worthless asking I finally gave up. I slowly trudged home, disappointed. But I think luck was on my side that day.

I was just slowly walking down the side walk. I was on the farthest side of town and you could see the edge of the forest. I was so disappointed; I didn't notice I was headed the wrong way. I walked for five minutes without realizing I was headed the wrong way. I would of kept on walking the wrong direction too if I hadn't tripped.

I went flying forwards, there was no side walk anymore and so I slide on the gravel. I caught myself with my hands, scraping them up pretty badly. I sat up alert, the stinging pain in my hands helping with that. I looked down at my hands. There was no blood but I had ripped a layer of skin off my palms. I just sat there for a second remembering my dream from last night.

I had been two; it was a faceless child that was me in another weird dream of mine. I knew we were going to the beach. Charlie, me, my supposedly mom and another person was in this dream that hadn't been there before, Bella. We were all faceless but I could tell we were very excited. When we got there Bella and me jumped out of the car and made a bee line towards the beach, me without my crutch. It had been a happy dream. But even my dream self knew there was a catch to this happy family moment.

And there was. We were playing with a Frisbee and Bella had told me to go long, and I obeyed happily chasing it going fast as my little two year old self would let me. This part had been so life like I forgot I had been dreaming. The salt air was thick and tickling my nose, it was an unusually bright for a day at Forks. My hair had whipped my face lightly and I laughed with the challenge of catching a Frisbee. My head was tilted up looking at the flying Frisbee. Just then my foot caught in roots of an old stump. My momentum carried me on; if that didn't make it bad enough I turned trying to twist my foot out, making it even worse. I heard a sickening crack, my leg was hot searing pain twisted at an unnatural angle. Lucky for me I didn't have to endure the pain for long. I was knocked out cold.

It was like Déjà Vu, my leg hurt just at the memory. I shuddered and groaned, where was I? I just noticed my surroundings; I was on a plain gravel road surrounded by trees. In other words, I was lost.

"Charlie's going to kill me." I groaned. I felt like curling up into a ball and crying. But instead I took in a wobbling breath and stood up. I made a 160 around the little clearing in search of my crutch. It was all the way across the clearing.

Using only one foot I hopped across the clearing towards my crutch. Right before I was going to bend down and pick it up I noticed something. The crutch was pointing at a road that I hadn't seen there before. It was just barely noticeable. My curiosity instantly peaked; it was a cute little road with trees lining the edges and curving over the top.

I had time, I could go check it out and then maybe if someone did live there they could point me towards Forks. Maybe they knew where the Cullen's lived! I let my hopes soar high as I picked up my crutch, grabbed the wagon handle and started down the enchanted road. The road was cute and darling but I something was missing and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The road was impossibly long; I swear it was longer than any road in forks. But I trudged on, too far to turn back.

Finally after what could have been an hour of walking a darling house came into view. I was exhausted but excited. I stopped at the porch stairs and took the tarp off of the wagon to get out the cookies that were long from warm. I wobbled up the stairs, I really was so tired. It took all my strength to wobble up the stairs. When I got to the door I leaned on my crutch to shift the cookie plate into my other hand so I could knock on the door.

As I waited for someone to open the door I swayed on my feet. I really was tired and all this walking really wasn't helping. I let out a huge yawn and leaned on my crutch for more support. Right then a woman that looked about thirty answered the door. She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. I looked up at her in awe. She looked sad but she smiled lightly at my awe.

I was too stunned to speak and she took a hint and spoke for me, "Anything I can do for you dear?" She said her voice ringing out like bells. I shook myself out of my shock, a beautiful woman in a beautiful house, what are the odds?

I smiled shyly at her, "I'm kind of lost."

She laughed again, "Aren't you supposed to be in school?" My eyes widened. What if she told Charlie? All I was trying to do was a favor for Bella. She saw my fear, "Don't worry I won't tell, come in." She said opening the door wider.

I was a little hesitant but then I saw a huge couch and my tired body just ached to sit down. I wobbled in still holding the cookies and plopped down on the couch. The couch was so soft it swallowed me up like a cloud. I sighed in comfort, the lady laughed. She took a seat at the other end of the couch and turned to face me. She opened her mouth the say something but I cut her off, "I love your couch." realizing a second to late that I had cut her off. I looked at her with an apology on my lips but she just waved it off.

She smiled at me, "What's your name sweet heart?" Charlie would kill me for talking to a stranger but there was something about her that was so welcoming.

"Kennedy Swan." I said snuggling even further into the couch, her eyes flickered with recognition. She must recognize Chief of polices last name.

"How did you end up here Kennedy?" She said politely. My earlier tiredness was back and stronger than ever. My eyes started to droop.

"I was looking for Edward Cullen's house." I yawned.

Her eyes widened in surprise, "This is the place." She said shock in her voice. This shock me too but not enough to shake off the sleepiness.

"Well, my sister says he hasn't been to school in almost a week and she thinks he doesn't like her." I held back a yawn and continued, "I told her that he was just sick or something and I wanted to prove that she was just over reacting so I made cookies to deliver." It took all my energy to stay awake, I knew I was telling a lot more then I needed to but it was so hard to stop myself from drifting off. "So these are for him." I say handing her the cookies.

She accepted them slowly a confused look on her face.

"Your house wasn't very easy to find. Do you guys just like people? People are great once you get to know them, even the grumpy ones. Why live in the forest? Lots of animals out here." I yawned again. My eyes were heavy and I knew I needed to stay awake. But I couldn't, I just couldn't, it was so hard!

"It's ok," she said softly, "Go to sleep." I knew I really shouldn't fall asleep at another person's house when I didn't even know them but i didn't care. But right before I went to sleep I figured it out. The thing was different as I was walking through the forest. I hadn't heard any animals. It was like they detected danger. What could be so dangerous about a kindly old women and her family? With that I drifted off to blissful sleep.

**I am so sorry this took FOREVER to get up. Like I said, schools back in and I won't be able to update as much. I hoped you liked it. It's starting to get somewhere! I'm getting excited! :D Please review!**


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